More and more people are attempting to find solutions to their hearing loss without consulting a trained hearing professional, but doing so could be risky to their health, according to the FDA. While you may save a few dollars up front, many different factors contribute to hearing loss, and unless you know what is causing yours, you could be ignoring a serious health issue.
Besides, over-the-counter generic hearing devices and those purchased on the Internet often provide little improvement in hearing, meaning you’ll be spending money for no real benefit while still suffering the negative social and health impacts of hearing loss.
Hearing loss may be the result of something fairly innocuous, like impacted earwax. “At the other end of the spectrum,” said Dr. Eric Mann, Clinical Deputy Director of the FDA’s Division of Ophthalmic and ENT Devices. “It could be something as serious as a tumor pressing on the hearing nerve.” While that is a worst-case scenario, even if your hearing loss is related to aging or noise exposure and treatable with hearing devices, it’s important to have a hearing care professional who is experienced in fitting and programming hearing devices examine you first.
“Today’s state-of-the-art hearing devices should be programmed to the individual’s specific hearing loss requirements in order to provide good levels of benefit and customer satisfaction,” said Sergei Kochkin, Executive Director of the Better Hearing Institute. “The process requires a complete in-person hearing assessment in a sound booth.”
Many people will not even buy a new pair of shoes online without trying them on, so why would it make sense to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on an instrument that might not even work as advertised?
“The training and skills of a credentialed hearing health care professional in order to prescriptively fit the hearing devices using sophisticated computer programs and appropriate in-person follow-up and counseling is paramount,” Kochkin continues. “This is not possible when consumers purchase one-size-fits-all hearing aids over the Internet or elsewhere.”
If you suspect hearing loss, please call us at (424) 257-8285 before committing to an expensive purchase. Your hearing health depends on it.
